FTX fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison

Convicted FTX fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison today, according to news reports.

The founder and ex-CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX was sentenced this morning by Judge Lewis Kaplan in US District Court for the Southern District of New York. Bankman-Fried had requested a sentence of 63 to 78 months (5.25 to 6.5 years), arguing that he deserved leniency because of his "charitable works and demonstrated commitment to others."

Kaplan ordered a forfeiture of $11 billion but did not order restitution "due to the complexity of the case and the number of victims," the court docket said. Kaplan instead authorized the US to compensate victims with "forfeited assets through a remission process, as restitution would be impractical in this case."

Kaplan said today that Bankman-Fried committed perjury during the trial when he claimed to have no knowledge that Alameda spent FTX customer deposits before the fall of 2022, according to CNN. Kaplan also said that Bankman-Fried committed witness tampering before he was taken into custody when he communicated with the former FTX general counsel.